


Just Like Broken Glass

by aswellingstorm



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Love, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-01-18 03:14:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12379752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aswellingstorm/pseuds/aswellingstorm
Summary: Soulmate AU (inspired by silentpeaches): Where you have the name of your soulmate can appear on your body randomly, at any point in your life. Jughead Jones swears he doesn’t have a soulmate and Betty Cooper for the life of her, cannot think of a single person in her life named “Forsythe”.





	1. One and Lonely

A scratch on _their_ arm was a scratch on yours as well.  A song stuck in _their_ head was a song annoying ricocheting around in your brain as well. In extremely strong connections, occasional daily thoughts dancing around in their minds would flit around in your brain as well.

On one hot, summery day Veronica Lodge heard the same address on repeat in her head, as if her soulmate was desperately trying to ingrain it into their memory. She recognized the address as the _Open Door_ , an upscale gastropub only a few blocks from her apartment. Eagerly, she threw on her best dress and dragged her best friend, Betty Cooper, down to the restaurant.

She didn’t know if he’d be there, when he’d be there, or if he’d _ever_ be there, but she be damned if she didn’t at least give it a shot. Any feelings of nerves or uneasiness left her body as she approached the restaurant as Betty bounced giddily beside her. Veronica Lodge was taking a risk, grabbing her future by it’s horns and- _oh shit_.

_My love, my heart_

_I wanna share it with you_

_Tough breaks, new starts_

_I wanna share it with you_

_When it seems too hard to bear_

_I’ll be here or I’ll be there_

_I wanna share it with you_

She heard _it_. A song she’d never heard sung aloud before, and it was muffled through the doors of the restaurant, sure, but she recognized it anywhere. It was an original song, one that only her soulmate could know because he wrote it himself.

Veronica looked to Betty, elation dancing in her eyes as Betty stared blankly back at her.

“What? What is it V?” She asked, but her questions went ignored as Veronica bounded past her and into the restaurant.

She nearly knocked over the host, breezing past a line of guests waiting to get in. Some began to turn and shout at her but she ignored them all-following her heart to the source of the noise-to _Archibald_ , the name that sat behind her left earlobe ever since she was fifteen.

Finally making it into the main dining room, she stopped short in the middle of a sea of tables looking up at an illuminated stage. Breathlessly she stared at the ginger headed man singing on the stage, not caring about the curious looks she was receiving from the diners. Following their stares, he looked at her and they finally made eye contact.

Abruptly, the man, her soulmate, her _Archibald_ , stopped singing. His breath was caught in his throat, dumbfounded at the raven phoenix in front of him.

Hopefully his tentative voice echoed in the microphone, “Veronica?” 

She nodded, feeling tears pool in her eyes before she ran towards him and he quickly set his guitar to meet her half way. When they met in the middle of the room, it was a scene out of every rom-com imaginable, the triumph of the moment wherein the two soulmates embraced each other for the first time. Their lips joined together, a faint glowing emanating from their chests as the world turned and exploded around them.

\--

Hearing the story of how her best friend had met her soulmate was lovely, endearing, adorable, inspiring—but quite honestly _annoying_ at this point. Betty knew underneath her sugary surface she was still happy for V, but still couldn’t fight the pang of jealously that drummed dully in her chest.

It was the evening of Veronica and Archie’s engagement party, held in Veronica’s very upscale apartment in Manhattan. Guests sat across the sleek leather furniture, enthralled by Veronica’s slightly-tipsy retelling of the story. Wait staff made sure everyone had a full glass of champagne in their hands and hot appetizers on their plates. Archie was looking at her, enraptured by her essence as she relayed the story to the party goers.

It was a perfect party, really. As the maid of honor, Betty should be ecstatic for Veronica-and she was, truly, but it was just…too much. Her chest felt constricted and she decided to head out to the terrace for fresh air.

Flushed, warm skin eagerly welcomed the chilly September night air. The stars were out, Betty could barely discern them against the bright lights of the city. As someone who never cared much for heights she didn’t dare look down and assess the difference between the Manhattan sidewalk and stable porch of Veronica’s penthouse apartment. Instead, she plopped down on one of the lounge chairs, finding comfort in the over-stuffed pillows.

 Her black sequined A-line dress (a creation straight out of V’s closet), itched against her skin uncomfortably. She sighed, leaning her head down to pinch the bridge of her nose with her left hand and running her right hand through her ever-loosening curls.

The iconic duo _B and V_ were the last of their immediate friend groups to find their soulmates. They spent many a night curled up on the couch together nursing a pint of Ben and Jerrys, and relaying their deepest fears-that they’d never find their soulmates at all. Deep down Betty always knew that Veronica would find hers, but she wasn’t so sure about herself.

She looked down at her left wrist-the paleness of it enlightened by the moonlight shining brightly above. The name, printed in scrawled out handwriting, looked upside down unless she twisted her arm to face towards her. She’d run her fingers over the ridges of the name when she was stressed or worried, finding comfort in the knowledge that there was _someone_ out there, just for her. Someone to understand her, quell her fears, acknowledge her worries, praise her strengths, support her in the ups and downs of her tumultuous life.

  _Forsythe Jones_.

Maybe she’d never find him. Statistically speaking, 90% of the population found their soulmate by the time they were twenty. She was twenty-one and, as far as she was concerned, far past her sell-by date. Plenty of people didn’t find their soulmates, with a hard gulp, she acknowledged that some people’s soulmates _died_ before they got the chance to meet them. 

He didn’t have a Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or any form of social media. He was an internet ghost and, despite her best detective efforts, she could never track him down. Maybe he didn’t _want_ to be found. Some people rejected the soulmate system entirely, for it was possible to fall in love with someone who wasn’t their soulmate. Maybe he had, and in so doing, elected to ignore the name inscribed on his own wrist.

She stretched out her palms, examining the crescent scars littered across them. She decided maybe it was smart of him, this _Forsythe_. In avoiding her, his so called _destiny_ , he avoided the unbearable mess that she was.

Maybe Betty Cooper was destined to be alone.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?” A low voice mumbled, surprising the lone girl and causing her to jump a bit.

She whipped her heard to see a tall, skinny man lingering in the corner of the terrace. He was wearing a black suit that appeared to be a bit big on him, contrasting sharply with the causal beanie that was slouched on his head-containing his sleek black hair. 

He was looking out at the city before turning to glance at her with an elaboration on his previous statement, “All of this _soulmate_ bullshit.”

She scoffed, “I don’t think it’s _bullshit_.”

“Then why are you out here? And not celebrating inside with your friends?” He challenged her, walking over to where she was sitting and leaning across the railing daringly.

She looked at him, swallowed and glanced inside at the soft glow of the party. The guests had begun dancing, and Veronica had her arms lazily draped over Archie’s in a slow-moving song. In lieu of a response, Betty shook her head wordlessly.

“I mean, it’d be _nice—_ ” She began to say when he cut her off. 

“See, people like you think there’s something _romantic_ about spending your life with someone just because their name was scribbled on your body. You don’t even get to _choose_ who you spend your life with, you just follow some dumb thing called fate and hope it leads you in the right direction,” He snorted, shaking his head.

Her eyes narrowed at his pretentious behavior, “People like me? You don’t even know my name.”

“Let me guess-you’re one of Veronica’s rich friends-probably a _sorority sister_ , who’s mommy and daddy bought them everything-”

“I’m a journalist at _The New York Times_ , going back to grad school sometime soon, I cut my parents out of my life before I left for college because my mother is a _control freak_ and I’ve paid for everything I have in my life so _fuck you_ ,” She spat out, grabbing her purse and making a move to stand up.

He looked at her, eyes twinkling in amusement, “ _New York Times_ huh? Pretty impressive.”

Incensed, she fired back at him, “And what do you do all day? Sit around and shove-”

“Journalist for _New York Daily News_ ,” he stopped her before she could insult him in reciprocation. He extended his hand out to her, “Jughead Jones, nice to meet ya.”

“Jughead?” She wondered with an incredulous tone. “Is that, uh, a nickname of some sort?”

“ _Nope_ ,” he denied, emphasizing the ‘p’, “Just Jughead, the one and only.”

 _Maybe that’s a good thing_ her mind begged her supply. Instead she remarked, “Must make it pretty easy for your soulmate to find you.” 

“Don’t have one,” he responded breezily.

“What are you talking about?” She rose from her seat, confusion wracking her brain. Everyone _had_ a soulmate. Not everyone found theirs, but at the very least they _had_ one. “Of course you do, Jughead.”

He shook his head vehemently, “Hate to crush your hopes and dreams but-no.”

“How do you know?” She questioned.

He held out his wrists-revealing blank canvases. “Got nothing. No tattoo or mark anywhere else on my body, but you might have to buy me dinner first if you want to do a thorough inspection,” he invited cheekily.

She rolled her eyes, feeling a bit sorry for him, “It can still appear at any time in your life, you know. It could happen right now, even.”

He shook his head at her again, “Don’t worry. I’ve made my peace with it.”

“You’re wrong,” she argued, “Everyone has a soulmate, everyone has someone they’re _supposed_ to be with-”

“But it doesn’t always work out that way, does it?” He shot back at her, “The people who are _destined_ to be together don’t always find each other. So they settle. Or they fall in love with someone who isn’t inscribed on their body-or they do find who they’re _supposed_ to be with, and it doesn’t work out. Hate to break it to ya babe.”

His bitter, arrogant tone irked her. She sighed, “Dear god, I hope they’re patient.”

“They who?” He asked dumbly.

“Your soulmate,” she responded, “They’ve got to be, if they want balance out the world’s black hole of optimism.”

Picking up on the insult he retorted, “So I guess they hire just about _anyone_ at the Times now? Even people who can’t wrap their minds around the concept that some soulmates just _don’t_ exist?”

 “Or,” her voice was high-pitched, giving way to how annoyed she was growing, “young, talented writers who graduate magna cum laude at NYU.”

 “You went to NYU?” He questioned, surprised.

 When she nodded in affirmation he asked, “What year?”

“2015,” She responded.

“Class of 2014 right here,” he said, gesturing to himself.

“Impressive,” she remarked before reaching out her hand, “I’m Betty, by the way. Betty Cooper.” 

“That short for something?” He asked with a smirk before joining his hand to hers. 

Her hand fit perfectly in his, her small fingers touching his warm, soft hands. Betty could’ve sworn she felt _something_ pulsing underneath, something foreign and new-

“Elizabeth,” she answered with their hands locked. He nearly lost his composure, his face faltering just slightly before retaining the half-smile. 

It was an odd moment, one she doubted she’d let go anytime soon.

 “Betty!” The glass sliding door opened roughly, Veronica peeking her head through, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

 She sent a quick glance to her best friend as her hand dropped out of Jughead’s, not before he could give it a flirtatious squeeze.

 Her heart sped up a built, and she almost felt guilty when the black ink on her wrist caught the corner of her eye. “Duty calls,” she said before turning away from him.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she heard him call out as she walked away from him, a small smile, the first genuine smile of the night, gracing her face. 

\--

The rest of the night, he couldn’t get _her_ out of his mind. Her bright, inviting green eyes that reminded him of spring-of life-of-of _everything_.

He wanted to get her attention later in the night, but decided to leave in favor of not wanting to appear desperate. He gave his best friend, the groom-to-be a brief hug before making his departure.

He splashed cold water on his face, willing himself to _snap out of it._ He should stay away from her, now that he knew who she was.

Jughead was plagued with the reverse Midas Touch-everything he touched turned to shit. He knew even one moment more spent with her could only hurt them both-and she was too beautiful, too loving-too deserving to be destroyed by him. 

He’d be doing her a favor, he decided to himself as he grabbed a bottle of soap and scrubbed at his wrist to wash away the perfectly blended make up, to reveal the name that had been written elegantly on his arm since he was twelve years old:

 _Elizabeth Cooper_.

Of all the damage he could do in the world-all of the things he could wreck- he decided that his soulmate wouldn’t be one of them.


	2. Forget to Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well it's been a hot minute since i updated this. big shout out to electromagnetic-waves for encouraging me to update this annnnd to everyone who hasn't completely forgotten about this fic-i hope you enjoy!

Planning a wedding for your best friend was turning out to actually be _fun_ , Betty was beginning to find.

 

Betty had never seen Veronica so happy, beaming with unbound light and energy. Her happiness was contagious and complemented by the fact that Archie was a pretty good guy, even under Betty’s intense microscope and high standards for her closest confidant.

 

If Veronica was truly the ice queen she always prided herself on, then her soulmate was fire. They had an intricate act of both challenging one another and balancing each other out. She was born and raised in the city; he came from small, unknown town in Upstate New York. He swore it wasn’t a farm town, but Veronica was more than happy to insist that any town with a population of less than five thousand was, in fact, a farm town.

 

The way they clicked together was so natural. He calmed her when she was stressing about the details of the wedding, the politics behind the seating chart were downright _demonic_ , and could make her laugh when she felt she was about to cry. He supported her every ambition, lauded her extensive shopping trips and in turn she was every breath of life he had missed in his twenty years of life. She was brilliant and so different from anyone he’d ever met before, always motivating him to be the best version of himself.

 

Watching the magic of a soulmate bound in action was so _magicalinspiringbreathtaking_ -amazing, that Betty was able to tamp down most of her feelings of jealousy. Being a consistently selfless person aided her in this process.

 

Sure, she still felt a painful jab of longing when she saw _Forsythe Jones_ scribbled lazily across her wrist. Her heart ached when she could realize certain thoughts-fragments, really- ran across her mind that weren’t hers. Mundane things, such as dates and grocery lists ghosted across her mind every now and then. But any interaction with her soulmate was few and far between, which she interpreted as a bad sign.

 

If he _really_ wanted to communicate with her, send her a sign that he was out there and looking for her too, she knew he would. But it seemed like having a soulmate never crossed his mind at all, and that any connection they had seemed to be dwindling.

 

It made her think about what Jughead said, as much as she hated to admit it. Some soulmate bonds didn’t work out, others fell in love with their non-soulmates and never had any interests in their soulmate. She tried to remain optimistic and insist that fate just hadn’t brought them together just yet, but every day she felt herself lose a little more hope. She didn’t miss the sympathetic glances that Veronica or Kevin sent her. The way her coworkers would halt their giddy conversations about their soulmates when she walked into the room. How even Polly, her own sister, wouldn’t mention Jason unless Betty prompted her to. It was infuriating, the way everyone treated her like glass—fragile, just on the verge of breaking.

 

The only person making her feel any better about the situation was, ironically, Jughead. The arrogant, cynical, beanie-wearing, self-loathing black cloud that was, as Archie’s best man, just as involved in the wedding as she was. He was everything that she wasn’t and she should hate him, they were even rivals at work, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She scoffed at his views of the world-calling it all a broken bone; laughed at his self-depreciating jokes; found herself sneaking glances at him during wedding-planning parties.

 

Archie invited them both to go cake testing with him and Veronica. When Betty  breathlessly shoved her arm into the elevator to catch it, she couldn’t help but smile when she noticed the only person she inconvienced was Jughead. She stepped in, shaking her head as he returned her smile with a playful joke:

 

“I know _The Times_ doesn’t care much for punctuality, what with them always being a step behind us and all, but I have a feeling Veronica might just serve your head on a platter if you-hey! _Ow_ , Cooper that hurt!” He complained  with a huff when she elbowed him.

 

They bickered for entirety of the elevator, as was par for the course of their friendship. Everything seemed to be running smoothly as they approached Veronica’s penthouse until the elevator stopped, presumably at their destination. But the doors didn’t open, not even after the pair stared at them expectanty for several seconds. The lights dimmed infinitesimally, but Betty noticed the difference.

 

Abruptly she lurched forward, pressing the open door button rapidly. “A watched pot never boils,” Jughead laughed, remaining calm.

 

But Betty was _not_ calm. She hated small spaces, hated the fact that there was no windows and no way for her to judge where she was. Was she just outside of Veronica’s apartment? Halfway up the building? Only a few feet above the ground? There was no way for her to tell just how far suspended she was in the air-how far she had to drop when this steel death box inevietably plummeted downwards-

 

Frantically, she attempted to open the doors, wedging her perfectly manicured nails inbetween the solid doors with fervor. She didn’t notice how heavily she was breathing, hadn’t even registered the crescent moon shaped pain in the palms of her hands as she spiraled in her panic. She was going to die in this elevator, she was going to be one of _those_ people who died before they got to meet their soulmate, not that it even matter much anyway-!

 

“Betty!” Jughead was beginning to become alarmed, but not at their entrapment.  He pried Betty away from the doors, imploring her to calm down.

 

“Calm down? Calm down!” She looked at him as if he’d lost his damn mind, “I can’t _calm_ down, Jughead! We’re trapped, we’re stuck in here!” She was gesturing wildly with her hands that were beginning to tremble.

 

Gently, he grabbed hold of them and opened his mouth to say something with the scars caught his eye. He seemed surprised and taken aback, but she first believed it to be because of the soulmate mark on her wrist. When she realized he was staring at the part of her she was least proud of, she felt her panic increase and attempted to pull away from him. The tips of her fingers were beginning to feel numb and she could feel pains in her chest, but he didn’t let her go.

 

He moved his hands to cup her face and spoke in a tone that was foreign to her, “Betty, look at me, Betty, please.” His voice was soft and placid. When she focused her gaze on him, she saw a tender look in his eyes, replacing the mask of misanthropy he always seemed to wear.

 

She could feel his thumb brushing across her cheek with care, his hands far softer and more comforting than she expected.

 

“Breathe, Betty, or you’re gonna pass out,” he said, barely above a whisper as he gingerly took one of her hands and placed it on his chest, right near his heart. “Here, let’s try to breathe, together, okay?”

 

As soon as he said those words, the doors of elevator opened, paving way to a very confused Archie and Veronica. Veronica’s look quickly turned into a smirk, one of simple _knowing_ , and Archie sent Jughead a rather similar smile.

 

“Are we interrupting something?” Veronica asked with a carefully measured voice.

 

Betty wasted no time with a response, instead opting to run out of the elevator.

 

Jughead slipped back into his old demeanor, “Only Betts channeling her inner hulk.”

 

His voice was only an echo in the back of her mind, barely resonating as she leaned forward with her hands on her knees.

 

Veronica looked more worried now, placing a soothing hand on her back, “You good, B?”

 

“Yeah yeah I’m fine,” Betty waved her away, “Just needed a minute.”

 

She could feel her heart rate begin to slow, sense coming back to her fingers. She stood up and stuffed her hands into the pocket of her coat to conceal the way they were still shaking.

 

“We were actually just about to head out, figured we’d get an early start with all the traffic in downtown,” Veronica explained, stepping on the elevator with Archie’s arm on her shoulder.

 

They all looked at Betty who then stated her sudden preference to the staircase. Jughead was about to offer to join her when the doors shut and they began their descent.

 

“So, Jughead,” Veronica’s voice was lithe, “You and Betty seemed...close.”

 

“Not a whole lot of room in this elevator,” he grumbled in response.

 

But she was right, Jughead could feel a persistent burning on his skin. Right underneath where the makeup concealed Betty’s name. It should be soothing, but it only reminded Jughead how he was playing with fire-how he was bound to get burned.

 

He knew he should stay away from her. He could recall when he was younger, he often thought about meeting her. He always considered concealing his soulmate mark from his soulmate, preferring to see if they could fall in love without the pressure of a label. If they were truly meant to be, he believed it didn’t matter what was written on his wrist.

 

But as he grew older and he saw everything around him turn to shit before his very eyes, he seldom felt like he had little control in his own life. Jughead believed he could ruin everyone’s lives, his fathers, mothers, sisters-all without trying. It all seemed to fall apart in front of him, the more distance he kept between himself and others, the better off both parties seemed to be. Which is how he figured, if he truly cared about his soulmate, they could never know who he was.

 

Something about Betty, her wit and grace-he couldn’t stay away from. He felt a compulsion to know more about her. What made her laugh, where she came from, her favorite movie. He wanted her to be happy, he wanted to protect her from harm-even if the only way he knew how was to shield her from himself.

 

He touched his wrist, feeling a buzzing beneath his skin as the elevator pulled them downwards. Unaware that Betty was descending the staircase, thinking about his tender touch and the soft look in his eyes with a blush on her face.

 

When she walked out of the stairwell a few minutes after they arrived in the lobby, he greeted her with a much needed bottle of water.

 

* * *

 

Cake tasting turned out to be a rather dramatic event. In a move that surprised no one, Veronica was overly critical of every cake they tested. Too sweet, too bitter, too dry, too moist, too boring (both Betty and Jughead raised their eyebrows at that complaint)—the real crime was Veronica was too critical. This was the closest that Veronica was coming to bridezilla and, with the wedding only a few weeks away, Betty counted that as a miracle.

 

But even Archie was becoming a bit irritated, Betty and Jughead excused themselves to the empty kitchen to give the couple some space.

 

It was the first time that they were alone together after the elevator incident. Embarrassed Betty looked down at the countertop, awkwardly biting her lip. The silence was overwhelming, prompting Betty to apologize when he spoke-

 

“You have something on your face,” he observed with a straight face.

 

Indignant, Betty snapped her face towards him, so quickly that she turned right into the finger he strategically coated with frosting.

 

Caught off guard her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’, which mixed well with with anger in her brows and the cool vanilla frosting smeared across her cheek.

 

He chucked at her stoic expression, “C’mon Betts! Lighten up, we’re planning a wedding for Godsa-“ and the next thing he knew, he had a mouth full of flour.

 

Flour which, under no circumstances should ever be consumed raw because holy hell, did he not like the taste of that. His face must’ve shown that because Betty began to giggle, a sound he wouldn’t mind hearing for eternity.

 

“Oh you think that’s funny, huh?” He asked with a smirk, grabbing the closest thing he could find: white sugar.

 

He gave pause when she shook her head, “I don’t think it’s funny, Juggy. I think it’s hilarious.” She ducked out of the way with a laugh when he attempted to pour sugar on her head.

 

He turned around to follow her when she hit him with more flour and a devious glint in her eyes.

 

“Betts,” he pouted before dumping the sugar on her, “that wasn’t very sweet of you.”

 

She let out a shriek, the smile on her face betraying any bite of her words, “Jughead! You got sugar all down my new sweater!”

 

“Oh no, now you’ll only have 57 pink sweaters in your closet instead of 58!” He mocked.

 

“Don’t be such an egghead,” she retailed by raising an egg up, ready to strike.

 

His eyes widened in fear, “Okay, lets just take a minute to, uh, calm down here...”

 

“Oh come on, lighten up! We’re planning a wedding, right Jug?” She threw his words back at him with an impish grin and before he knew it, he could feel the egg dripping down his head.

 

“Oh that’s it Cooper, you’re in for it now!” He responded gleefully, chasing her around the island with the bowl of flour.

 

They kept it up for a few minutes, the war ending with both parties looking like an episode of Cupcake Wars gone terribly, terribly wrong.

 

It ended only with Jughead successfully backing Betty into the corner of the lifted countertops. Her face was flushed with a combination of laughter and nervous energy as he leaned in, ready to strike with an egg in his hand.

 

Her voice was winded when she pleaded, “Juggy, please-don’t!”

 

He grinned down at her, like a cat who swallowed a canary. “Why not? It seems only fair that we’re eggheads together!” He brought his hands up to crack it when she squealed and paused, “But maybe if you were to apologize...”

 

“Me? Apologize?” Betty was shrill, taken aback by his audacity, “you’re the one who started it!”

 

“That may be true,” he conceded, smirk growing as he leaned in closer with their bodies only inches apart, “But I’m not the one backed into a corner, now am I?”

 

“Ah-hem,” betty and Jughead were jarred from their moment by a new voice entering the room. They turned slightly to see Veronica and Archie looking at them, once again with mirroring looks of curiosity.

 

They opened their mouths to provide some sort of explanation as to why the kitchen looked like it had been ransacked by a small army and why they themselves looked like they’d been hosed down with all things confectionary-when the caterer stepped in.

 

“Oh my lord!” The woman, elderly and kind was appalled.

 

Betty and Jughead felt their faces warm, tingly with more than one kind of embarrassment and made haste in cleaning up the mess.

 

As they walked back to Veronica’s penthouse, Betty was surprised to find that she didn’t really regret it. She was always the perfect picture of composure, taught proper etiquette by her mother and practiced it every since she was five years old. Even as a toddler, she never had temper tantrums in public and lived the majority of her life in a similar manner. She never tried to draw attention to herself outrageously or cause a scene, the thoughts of which embarrassed her greatly. But she had fun today with Jughead, a notion that had been becoming foreign to her until she met him.

 

They must’ve looked like quite a sight, walking through the streets of New York City, still covered in what moist paper towels couldn’t quite get off. But the curious stares of onlookers didn’t matter much to either parties nor did the inquisitive glances that their best friends sent each other. In that moment, all that mattered to them was how their shoulders brushed as they walked together and the way they smiled as they caught each other’s eye.

 

* * *

 

 

“Can I be honest with you?” Veronica asked Betty with just three weeks until the wedding.

 

“When aren’t you honest with me, V?” Betty scoffed, recalling how her best friends first words to her were ‘that’s a really cute top but you should totally pair it with a darker scarf so it can bring out your eyes more!’. They were in first grade when such incident occurred.

 

“I just...” Veronica sounded serious and maybe even a bit sad, which grabbed Betty’s attention immediately, “I’m not sure if this is something you’re ready to hear, B.”

 

Instantly, Betty knew what this was about. Her soulmate. Or lack thereof.

 

“Veronica,” Betty cautioned. She so didn’t want to have this conversation right now. She was having such a lovely morning, her and Jughead had met for coffee-

 

“But you need to hear it, okay?” Veronica ignored her, closing her wedding planning binder with a slam and looking up at Betty through her glasses. “You’re my best friend and your happiness means the world to me.”

 

It wasn’t a lie, it was the truth which is how Betty knew that, whatever Veronica was about to say was going to hurt like a bitch.

 

Betty closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, steeling herself.

 

“I don’t think...I don’t know, for sure but...you know how the rule goes, right?” Veronica seemed unsure of how to best spit out what she was trying to say, “If it’s meant to be, most people find their soulmate and make their connection before they’re twenty.”

 

“You don’t think I know that?” Betty snapped. Her anger was misplaced, she knew that much, but she was so tired of it all. “You don’t think I know how far past the expiration date I am? You don’t think I realize how everyone looks at me? How you and Archie, my coworkers, our other friends send me such pity? I know what they think when they look at me-how hopeless I am, how slim the odds are now and it sucks!”

 

“I mean, do you have any idea how much it sucks?” Betty asked and Veronica tried to nod her head but Betty cut her off with venomous words, “No, Veronica, you don’t! You have no idea how it feels, we were in this thing together-both of us not having found our soulmates- and then you did!”

 

Veronica looked hurt, mind racing with betrayal that her own best friend couldn’t be happy for her. “So what, it’s my fault?”

 

Realizing her mistake, Betty slowed down and reached across the table, taking Veronica’s hands into hers. “No, no it’s not like that. You know how happy I am for you, right? God, I don’t mean to sound selfish-I really am so happy you found each other.”

 

Veronica nodded, appreciating the genuine look in Betty’s eyes. “I know you are B, you’ve been an absolute saint throughout all of this-I mean, honestly, I don’t know if could do it if I were you. If the tables were turned, I’d be going out of my mind with jealousy.”

 

Betty laughed at that, “I just...I want something like that so badly.”

 

“But, and please don’t hate me,” Betty scoffed at that as if that were ever a possibility, “what if your soulmate isn’t out there?”

 

Betty’s face dropped and she loosened her grip on Veronica’s hands. She felt her stomach swoop lowly, something icy and cold running through her veins.

 

“I mean, what if they’re already married to someone else? Or in love with someone else? What if they just rejected this whole system of soulmates entirely and don’t care to… _find_ you? Don’t you think that they would’ve by now if they could?” Veronica questioned.

 

And that was exactly what Betty thought. But she always kept those thoughts in the back of her head, never to see the light of day. She wrote them off as insecurities, absurd and overwhelming. Hearing her best friend actualize then made it all too real for her.

 

“You sound just like Jughead,” Betty said lamely, tears filling her eyes.

 

“But, there’s Jughead!” Veronica’s eyes widened excitedly, finally getting to her point.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“He doesn’t have a soulmate. And as far as I’m concerned, neither do you.” She explained.

 

Betty’s brain still wasn’t putting two and two together, “And...?”

 

“And, I’ve seen the way he looks at you! And the way you look at him! You look so happy when you’re with him and Archie swears he’s never seen Jughead smile like that-ever.” Veronica was going a mile a minute, voice giddy and elated, “I think you two would be perfect together.”

 

Betty supposed Veronica might’ve had a point. “But...we’re not-“

 

“Not soulmates. I know. But maybe...that’s a good thing?” Veronica winced, understanding how hard it might be to believe those words.

 

“But...his soulmates name could appear at any time on his body, V! What if-what if we get married, or we’re together for years and he finds out her name? I couldn’t expect him to still be with me and-and! What if I find mine? In the middle of our relationship, and then everything’s ruined?” Betty felt her heart racing, “I can’t-we can’t do that. It’s not fair to either of us. And I know the chances of us finding ours are slim-but it could still happen.”

 

“Betty, slow down,” Veronica demanded coolly, “no one said anything about marriage, okay?”

 

When Betty took a deep breath, Veronica spoke again, “Look, you guys might not work out. You might not even get together. It might be weird or-whatever. There’s a million reasons not to do something-but I think you should just be open to it. Because you can’t waste your whole life waiting around for someone to show up! You deserve all the love and happiness in the world B, and I think that maybe he could give that to you.”

 

Betty looked unsure and felt queasy, but she knew Veronica was right. Something about Jughead just felt right. Even if it wasn’t a forever thing, even if it didn’t work out, maybe she just needed to give it a chance.

 

* * *

 

It turned out that she and Veronica fretted over nothing. Because the next week, Betty found her soulmate.

 

Or at least, that was what she was lead to believe.

 

During her daily coffee meeting with Jughead on one fine Tuesday morning, she had a little ding! on her phone. She looked down at it and felt her heart stop, jaw dropping surprise.

 

“What? What is it?” Jughead asked, perhaps a bit too nosy for his own good.

 

But she turned the screen towards him, on it was a message from Forsythe, introducing himself and asking to meet up.

 

“It’s my soulmate,” she was appalled. Part of her was ecstatic and so elated, but another part was a bit crushed. Today was the day she was going to tell Jughead how she felt-but luckily fate had swooped in before she could make a fool of herself. Right?

 

Still, something felt incredibly off about this.

 

Jughead looked crushed too, but he quickly tried to compose himself. He was dumbfounded, quite honestly, wondering if he had been wrong the whole time. He tried his best to be happy for her as she set up a date and time to meet, tried to quell her nerves and assured her it was about to be the best day of her life. He even tolerated Veronica’s congratulatory shrieks for half an hour before excusing himself.

 

He turned his phone off for the rest of the day. He didn’t want to hear anything more about this-despite how selfish that was. He should be happy because Betty deserved this, deserved a guy who was truly her soulmate and could truly make her happy. She wasn’t his soulmate after all, and that should bring him a great deal of relief; he couldn’t ruin her if she wasn’t tethered to him in any way.

 

But he didn’t feel relieved. He felt sad, bitter-jealous. His stomach turned with it, mixing unpleasantly with his self loathing. He didn’t understand how this could happen, how fate could be so cruel but reckoned he deserved it anyway.

 

It was 11 pm when he decided he couldn’t be alone. He found himself in the most unlikely of places for him to go-Veronica’s place. He’d go with Archie or Betty, but never by himself. He wasn’t sure what he was doing if he was being honest, but he felt a compulsive need to go there, like something was beckoning him.

 

He knocked on the door and tried to not be surprised when Archie answered.

 

“Jug? What are you doing here?” He asked as Jughead stepped through the door.

 

“Nice to see you too man,” At Archie’s expectant stare he lied through his teeth, “I tried your place and I figured you’d be here.”

 

Archie’s expression softened, “Whats up man?”

 

And that’s when Jughead heard it-a small sound, muffled by the wall. He could barely discern Veronica’s voice, soft and comforting through the wall, and the sounds of someone crying.

 

Not someone-Betty. Sobbing. His heart stopped, and he walked over to Veronica’s room.

 

“What are you doing?” Archie followed after him.

 

“What the hell happened?” Jughead whipped around at him, unexpectedly angry at whatever was upsetting Betty.

 

“I don’t know, they wouldn’t tell me-“ Jughead tolled his eyes and knocked on the door.

 

It must’ve had something to do with that Forsythe guy. That’s the only thing he could think of. Veronica opened the door, surprised to see Jughead on the other side. He pushed past her, ignoring her protests to find a red-eyes Betty surrounded by tissues and curled up on Veronica’s bed.

 

“Betts?” He called out in the dim light of her room. “Are you okay?”

 

She actually laughed at that, a cold and bitter sound, “what do you think?”

 

She tried to wipe away her tears but failed miserably and he was by her side in an instant, body tense with concern.

 

“Was it that guy? What’d he do? Do I have to fight him? Did he-did he hurt you? Did he touch you? Oh god, I’m gonna have to fight him, aren’t I?” He might’ve been a bit excessive, but at least this time when she laughed it was real.

 

She told him how this guy, whoever it was, was a fake. His real name wasn’t even Forsythe. She knew it wasn’t real halfway though the dinner when she asked to see his wrist and there was a name haphazardly written, “Betty”.  The ink was smudged and if that wasn’t a dead give away, the guy was actually dumb enough to believe her name was Betty. Legally, her birth name was Elizabeth and soulmate marks didn’t play by the way of nicknames, meaning whoever her soulmate was had to have “Elizabeth” on their wrist.

 

He held her while she explained, wishing only that she would’ve gotten the guys real name so he could kick the crap out of him.

 

* * *

 

 

After that night, Betty and Jughead had only been closer. If that was even possible.

 

It seemed the event had crushed any of Betty’s hopes of having an actual soulmate and dismantling her belief in the system.

 

It wasn’t so much because she had been played, but much rather that, for the entirety of the day, she kept wishing it wasn’t “Forsythe” she was going on a date with but rather Jughead. Even at her best when she truly believed she found her soulmate and she was on the verge of getting what she’d been aching for years, she still dismayed that it wasn’t him. It wasn’t Jughead, and that felt entirely too wrong.

 

So she came to accept the fact that maybe not everyone found their soulmates. And maybe, that was a good thing.

 

All the while, Jughead was finally coming to terms with the fact that they were soulmates. Meant to be. But that he’d also screwed everything up to an extreme extent by pretending they weren’t. He’d already hurt her so much and they weren’t even together.

 

By lying to her, he put her through the pain of that night. He’d been misleading her for months. Stringing her along and concealing the truth from her. The truth that she had, undoubtedly, every right to know.

 

He wanted to be with her, more than anything. But he knew he couldn’t be, unless he came clean. Which he was much too cowardly for.

 

Which is why, when he felt it-the beginnings of a confession, a proclamation of feelings, about to tumble from Betty’s lips when the whole gang went to a bar one night, he knew what he had to do.

 

It was a last ditch effort, but the only way he knew he could spare Betty from himself.

 

* * *

 

The morning after the bar, Jughead and Betty were at the wedding venue. The wedding was less than a week away, and they’d begun to prepare the wedding hall.

 

Jughead was being awfully quiet, leaving an unsettled feeling in Betty’s stomach. She almost confessed to him last night, but he hastily excused himself and had been acting weird every since.

 

“Jughead-“

 

“Betty-“

 

They both spoke at the same time and it made Betty let out an awkward laugh, expecting him to reciprocate. Instead he looked nervous and incredibly pale.

 

“You can go first,” she said, feeling uncertainty rise in her stomach.

 

His eyes kept flickering to the clock and he genuinely looked like he might vomit.

 

He didn’t have to say anything, because just as he opened his mouth the big wooden doors burst open.

 

And through them walked a leather-clad girl with olive skin and hair with caramel and pastel pink highlights. She didn’t even spare a glance at Betty, instead kept her gaze locked on Jughead.

 

She walked slowly but with a dedicated purpose. Betty glanced nervously at Jughead, unsure of what was happening.

 

“Jughead Jones,” she said, mere feet away from him, “I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

 

She held up her wrists and, fate be damned, there was “Jughead Jones” written.

 

Betty ran out of the room, feeling her heart shatter with every step. Little did she know Jughead felt the same pain as he sealed his future.

 

Once she was gone, Toni dropped the act with an apathetic look. “You didn’t tell me your soulmate was so damn gorgeous.”

* * *

 

 

The rest of the week leading up to the wedding went by fairly quickly. Betty had been avoiding Jughead at all costs, excusing herself whenever he was around.

 

She didn’t miss the sad look on his face whenever she did, or how overall gloomy he appeared to be. She chalked it up to her own imagination, thinking that she was just seeing the things her brain wanted to see.

 

Toni was his plus one to the wedding, and rumor had it that her name appeared on his wrist after they met.

 

Betty didn’t care to hear anymore of it.

 

Archie seemed in a foul mood as well, Veronica often complaining about it. Betty was getting quite used to her best friends frustrated daily rants about him when a few days before the wedding, they stopped altogether.

 

It was abrupt, but Betty decided not to question it. She just assumed that maybe Archie was in a better mood, but this theory proved false when she walked into the penthouse the day before the wedding, arms full with last minute decorations.

 

She walked through the door way where she could hear the vestiges of a heated argument.

 

“C’mon man, I knew you were pissed-but seriously? Why the hell would you invite my father?” Jugheads voice was low and teeming with rage.

 

“You know exactly why, dude!” Archie’s voice was much louder.

 

“This is low-even for you,” Jughead scoffed.

 

“Oh, even for me?” Archie was insulted, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? You’re supposed to be my best man but you haven’t been acting like much of a man at all!”

 

“Yeah well you’re supposed to be my best friend!” Jughead raised his voice.

 

“That’s why I’ve been trying to stop you from ruining your life!” Archie sighed, “but you know what? Forget it. You made your bed.”

 

Betty tensed when she heard footsteps approaching, feeling like a dear caught in headlights.

 

The door opened and Archie called after him, “Jughead! I did it to remind you what you’re gonna end up like-”

 

Jughead turned in the doorframe, his voice a threatening snarl, “I am nothing like him!”

 

“But you will be.” And that seemed to be the final straw for Jughead.

 

“Fuck you,” He seethed, “Have a nice wedding. Veronica, sorry you’re marrying a god damn moron.”

 

Betty didn’t even notice Veronica was in the room, but next thing she knew, Jughead was storming out, nearly barreling into Betty.

 

“Betty!” He exclaimed, “Uh, how long have you been here?”

 

She shuffled to the counter to put the bags down, ignoring how Veronica and Archie piled out. “I, um, just got in. Is everything okay?”

 

Jughead took one look at Archie before storming out the door, “Just perfect, Betts.”

 

“What was all of that about?” Betty asked as the door shut.

 

Neither of them said a word and suddenly Betty felt like there was some secret the whole world knew accept for her.

 

* * *

 

Whatever issues Jughead and Archie had, seemed to completely dissipate by the wedding. They were acting like themselves, joking around and everyone was in high spirits throughout the ceremony.

 

Veronica and Archie were ecstatic, having their wedding at sunset and everything was just so...perfect. Betty may have cried a bit but only out of true joy for her best friend. Well, best friends. She could admit that her and Archie had gotten fairly close and she was just as happy for him as she was for Veronica.

 

Betty was skirting around the reception, actively avoiding both Jughead and Toni. She got a feeling rather similar to the one at the engagement party in her chest and decided to head outside the venue for some fresh air.

 

The moon was bright, illuminating her path to the water fountain where they’d taken the majority of the wedding photos that day. It was beautiful, Betty stood staring at it and completely enraptured by the beauty of the flowing water.

 

It soothed her, allowing her to breathe for what felt like the first time all day. It was peaceful and calming, until a voice made her jump out of her skin.

 

“Enjoying the view?” Jughead asked, stepping towards her. Betty took a step backwards and involuntarily winced at the hurt look on his face.

 

“Jughead,” her voice barely concealed the hurt she felt while looking at him. “What are you doing out here?”

 

“It’s a free country,” he supplied with his signature smirk before his tone turned serious, “listen, Betts-“

 

“Don’t,” she interrupted with another step backwards, “Don’t call me that.”

 

“Why not?” He frowned, walking towards her.

 

“Because-“ she felt the urge to run away, to leave this uncomfortable situation and never look back, “I don’t-I can’t. I just can’t. Not anymore.”

 

“What are you talking about?” His brows were furrowed.

 

“Listen,” she took a deep breath, stepping back dangerously close to the edge of the foundation. “I...I had feelings for you,” He paled instantly at the confession, “But, But it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. You have a soulmate and-“ she was using her hands to gesture and perhaps had a bit too much to drink, making her stance a little unstable.

 

“Betty-“ he tried to warn her but she cut him off.

 

“I know! You don’t feel the same way and it’s fine I just need time to except that-“

 

“Betty!” He shouted again, but it was too late because next thing he knew, she was officially off balance, and falling backwards into the large fountain.

 

He lunged forward to the fountain, not hesitating for a moment as he got his upper body completely soaked. He grabbed onto her arms and pulled her out, her purple dress completely soaked.

 

There were thousands of apologies falling out of her mouth, “Here, let me get some towels and we can dry you off!”

 

She tried to tug on his wrist which felt oddly slimy when he jerked away. She watched as he wiped his hands on his dress pants, leaving a miniscule trail of-what was that? Foundation? She furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes, looking at her own hands and seeing a similar color where her hand touched his wrist.

 

She opened her mouth to question him when an older man, clearly inebriated, called out to Jughead.

 

“Boy!” He was stumbling, suit fitting him awkwardly, “ _Boy_! What are you doing out here?”

 

She saw the way Jugheads body tensed, eyes closing in misery before he turned around. Betty instantly pieced together that this man was the dreaded father figure from the other day.

 

“Nothing _dad_ ,” The response was nothing more than a sneer, as the man approached, putting a lazy arm around Jughead’s shoulder. He used the younger boy to support most of his weight.

 

Betty’s eyes flickered nervously at him when he asked, “And who is this pretty lady we have here?”

 

Before Jughead could say a word Betty stuck out her hand and offered a kind smile, “I’m Betty, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Jones.”

 

“Mr. Jones?” He scoffed, “I’m not Mr. Jones. That’s my father-I’m Forsythe Jones the second, but you can call me FP.”

 

_I’m Forsythe Jones. Forsythe Jones. Forsythe. Jones._

 

Betty froze. The name on her wrist-Forstyhe Jones-it couldn’t be…possibly, there’s no way-

 

“Forsythe Jones?” She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

 

“The _second!_ ” FP added, “And this here’s my boy-Forsythe Jones the third!”

 

Betty turned to Jughead, eyes widened in shock and mind racing with confusion. She didn’t know what to say-because it couldn’t possibly be-could it?

 

“What?” She asked dumbly. He wouldn’t look at her. “I thought your name was Jughead?”

 

FP started to laugh at that, “Jughead? Pft, nah, that’s just a stupid nickname!”

 

 _Nickname_. But-but that’s what she saw on Toni’s wrist. The goddamn universe didn’t play by the rules of nicknames. That must mean…

 

She grabbed Jugheads wrist, yanking it towards her body. He let out a yelp and tried to retract it from her, but goddammit she was stronger than she looked. She turned his wrist over and saw streaky lines of foundation wearing away and kicked herself for not noticing it sooner.

 

Betty started rubbing her hand across the patch, wearing down the layer as FP drunkenly laughed at how ‘handsy’ she was being. Jughead kept trying to pull away, frantically begging her to stop, but she was too fixated on the task at hand to hear his voice.

 

She didn’t stop until all of the foundation had been worn away to reveal, in perfectly elegant script:

 

_Elizabeth Cooper._

 

Betty gasped, dropping his hand as if it burned her. She could feel tears pooling in her eyes.

 

“Betty!”

 

“All this time…you lied to me,” It came out like a question, she looked up at him until to see the shame and guilt written clearly across his face. “You _knew_ that we were soulmates?”

 

“I…yes,” He admitted, shamefully, “But, Betty-”

 

“No! No ‘buts’, Jughead,” she said before rolling her eyes at herself, “Or should I say Forsythe? You knew that we were soulmates, and you _lied_ to me. You told me you didn’t have one-you tried-tried to get me to believe that Toni was yours and that I was stupid for ever believing in them-because…why? You didn’t want _me?”_ There was no way she couldn’t take this entire ruse as a personal attack.

 

“What? No!” He turned to her, alarm bright in his eyes. “That’s not it-not at all. Of course I wanted you, Betty, I still do, but you…you don’t want me.”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She fired back, enraged, “You don’t get to make that decision for me!”

 

“I ruin everything I touch! I can’t do that to you, I didn’t want to ruin what we had and-”

 

“You know what? I think you’re right,” she shook her head, blinking back the tears that were on the edge of falling down her face, “I _don’t_ want you, Jughead. Not anymore.”

 

And with that, she spun on her heel and ran away. Past the fountain, through the courtyard, until his voice yelling after her died off and there was no air left in her lungs. Maybe everyone was right to treat her like glass, for now she felt truly broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aswellingstorm.tumblr.com


	3. Forget to Fall (down)

“Had a feeling I might find you here,” a low voice stood rose above the background noise of glass on wood and whatever dreadful song was emanating from the jukebox.

The words were like a balm, fresh and cool against Betty’s cheeks that were getting warmer with each sip of wine. Her eyes slowly looked up, cautious and wide, and she nearly choked on the air.

Because there, in the run down bar about twenty minutes away from the wedding venue that Betty deemed safe to retreat to (one can never simply lick their wounds in public, can they?), was Toni Topaz in all of her  glory. Wavy, beautiful hair, form-fitting beige dress, not a single smear on her dewy makeup. Meanwhile Betty had cried off roughly 75% of her make up and her hair was wind blown and messy. Not to mention the fact that her dress was still in the process of air-drying.

Betty supposed she had no reason to be mad at Toni-she was just another pawn in _his_ game. But that didn’t stop the blonde from drawing her body tight, reaching into her clutch and throwing down a wad of cash-giving the bar tender a look that read _keep the change so I can get the fuck out of here_. But Toni approached quickly, grabbing the open seat next to Betty and pushing her money back to her.

“This one’s on me,” she gave a wink to the bar tender, who returned it with a subtle nod.

“No,” Betty refused. “That’s very kind but-no. No thank you. I don’t need your pity and I don’t want to talk to you right now, or- _ever_ , really. But thank you.” She was emboldened by the alcohol-having consumed a glass too many at the reception and now was making her way through her second glass of wine.

“Let’s slow down a minute,” Toni suggested, calmly, “Do I look like the kind of girl who sympathizes with others?” 

Betty looked at her face, the perfect vision of the word _unimpressed_. Her eyebrow was arched in expectation, a blasé look on her face. Her nails clicked against the polished wood of the bar impatiently, like she had somewhere to be, and it suddenly struck Betty that getting on Toni’s bad side seemed like a very _very_ wrong thing to do. 

“You look mad,” Betty answered honestly, prompting Toni’s lips to curve upwards into a smirk.

“My best friends an idiot,” Toni confessed like it was a secret, “It was endearing at first-but now I’m getting pretty damn tired of it.”

Slow on the uptake, Betty dared to ask, “Who’s your best friend?”

Toni’s eyes flickered to her in a silent way that said it was obvious, almost like saying the name outloud was a curse, but she responded anyway: “Your soulmate.” 

Her eyebrows shot up, her conditioned response was almost to ask _You know my soulmate? I’ve never met my soulmate!_ But then Betty bitterly recalled that she knew who her soulmate was-she knew him all too well. What was meant to be a blessing, a soulmate-a life partner, someone who just _got_ you and stood beside you through the thick and thin was now a curse wrapped in leather, surrounded by a personal rain cloud and responded only to the name Jughead. 

So Betty did the only thing she could do-laugh. Hysterically and unbounded because how _funny_ was that? How funny was this entire situation? She had no idea she why she was crying earlier when the whole thing was just so damn _hilarious_.

“My _soulmate_?” she cackled, open palm slamming down on the bar as she laughed. “You’ll have to be more specific-did you mean Forsythe Jones? The _asshole_ written on my wrist, who’s ignored me for my _entire_ life? The very same who never once tried to find me or-or communicate back to me! The one who only shut me out more and more every day while I had to watch all of my friends, my coworkers-everyone! Find their soulmates?” Toni flinched at that, “Or did you mean the _other_ asshole? Jughead Jones? The guy who-who didn’t want _me_ so badly that he _what_? Hired you to pretend to be his soulmate? Watched me get led on by some douchebag who pretended to be _him_? The one that lied to me for months, that watched me cry, the very same that told me that soulmates are _bullshit_?” 

“Betty, I-” Toni tried to interrupt, but Betty wasn’t finished yet.

 “Trick question! They’re both the same fucking person,” Betty’s laughter died down immediately, brought back down from her high by the pain of the situation. Then slowly, muttering under her breath she whispered, “they’re both the same fucking person.” As if she were just then realizing it for the for the first time. 

“I’ve made it my personal mission to not let you spiral in public,” Toni confessed in a soft tone, “So I think it’s time we try to get you home, okay?” She stood up and went to help Betty off the stool when the blonde shook her head, angrily.

“No-not okay-I-I was in _love_ with him, Toni,” She shook her head, stomach clenching the way it typically did before she cried. 

“I know,” Toni reassured.

“No you _don’t_ know,” Betty’s tone was sharp and surprisingly coherent-more sobered up now then she’d been in the last hour, “I was in love with him.” She repeated once more. 

“And I, I used to believe in soulmates. The first time I met him I argued with him about it! I told him everyone had a soulmate, that two people were meant to be or whatever-and I believed it. But then I fell in love with _him_ and every time my soulmate didn’t show up, I felt relieved. Because whoever my soulmate was-they couldn’t compare to him. I didn’t want them-I didn’t _need_ my soulmate because there he was…there was Jughead Jones and he was everything I needed…” she trailed off, lost in thought before adding, “So I stopped believing in soulmates. Because of him-because how could I possibly have a soulmate who _wasn’t_ him?” 

For someone who wasn’t sympathetic, Toni looked pretty damn heartbroken for the girl. And perhaps, a little bit for herself too.

“I used to believe in them too,” she said, her voice reflecting the smallest bit of sadness. It was enough to draw Betty away from her own circle of misery.

“You have a sho-soulmate?” the blonde asked, tripping over the word, “Like a real one?” 

“I do,” she responded, taking the opportunity to gently guide Betty off of the stool. “You weren’t the only one rejected tonight, hon.” 

Toni recalled her soulmate as they met briefly-she was a vision of fire red hair and deep cherry-covered lips. 

_“Cheryl Blossom,” he said tightly, trying to wipe off the bright red lipstick across his cheek. “You’re as vibrant as ever.”_

_“A true star never stops shining,” she chirped before her eyes fell on Toni-an excited look across her features. “And who might this be?”_

_“This is my soulmate-”_

_At once Cheryl’s face fell, turning into a masked look of disgust. “Ugh-you’re what the hobo dragged in? This is_ low _, even for you_ Jughead _.”_

_Before either could respond, she stormed away. Jughead looked at Toni strangely, trying to comprehend the heartbroken look on her face._

“She’s a fre-jerk,” Betty said seriously, stopping in her tracks after Toni finished relaying the tale. They were just outside of the bar now, cool air curling around their ankles.

“Let’s keep it moving blondie,” Toni urged but Betty remained in place. “What?” 

“A fre-jerk. She’s a fre-jerk.” Betty repeated, eyes catching Toni’s as if it were a dire matter to understand. 

“A fre-jerk. Right.” Toni nodded, biting back a laugh at the nonsense as they began to walk again. “A what exactly does fre-jerk mean, again?” 

“ _Freaking jerk_ ,” she spat out as thought it was obvious, laughing when she heard Toni echo it back. “I’m serious-a freaking jerk. _Both_ of our soulmates are.”

“The evidence against them is fairly damming,” Toni agreed breezily as they approached their uber-a black Ford escape that reflected the lights of the parking lot back at them.

“But _you’re_ not. I mean. I thought you were a fre-jerk, but you’re not,” Betty mumbled, climbing into the back seat. 

“I try to keep the fre-jerking to a minimum,” Toni admitted with a smirk.

 “Well you succeed,” Betty maintained, surprisingly conscious enough to buckle her own seatbelt. “We’re _both_ not fre-jerks. We can just be each others soulmates.” 

“Sounds like a plan princess,” Toni couldn’t help but laugh, watching as Betty rested her head on the glass. 

The rest of the car ride to Betty’s apartment passed by in relative ease, ending with Toni putting her phone number in Betty’s phone and telling her to call if she needed anything. 

Toni may have set her contact name as “Not A Fre-Jerk”, but Betty smiled all the same. 

\-- 

Jughead wasn’t surprised to find Veronica at his apartment the next morning, livid as ever.

“You ruined my wedding,” she accused when he opened the door, shoving her way inside without an invitation.

He only nodded in response, it was a fair point. “I know.” 

“No,” she exuded raw anger, “You _don’t_ know. You have your head so far up your ass, how could you possibly know _anything_?” 

He sucked in a deep breath. Part of him didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to argue-because what was the point anyway? But a bigger part of him still didn’t want to shoulder all of the blame. Not this time. 

“Oh I don’t know anything?” He bit back, sacasm dripping in his tone. His eyes were red rimmed and tired. He felt like he might throw up, but at least the emptiness within him was filled for a moment-even if it was only by anger. “I’ll tell you what I _do_ know, how about that? I _know_ I specifically asked Archie-and you! Not to invite FP. Because I knew he’d ruin it somehow.” 

“Newsflash moron!” Veronica’s hands were raised in anger with a voice that was  too loud, “Your _father_ didn’t ruin anything-you did. We told you, we _both_ told you to come clean to Betty and you refused to.” 

“I was protecting her!” He insisted, “C’mon Veronica, don’t you get that?”

“Protecting her from _what_?” Veronica crossed her arms, eyebrow raised in expectation. 

“ _Me_. I had it all planned out-I was going to use Toni to make Betty think I already had a soulmate-I knew she’d stay away. And that worked, and it was _safer_ for her!” He explained for not the first time. 

“That’s bullshit and you know, it Jughead. I told you that was a stupid idea, Betty deserved to know the truth! I thought you seeing your father and-and…what his life became after your mother, it might show you what you had to do!” 

“I think you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jughead attempted to argued, but it was futile. 

“I don’t care what you think Jughead, you need to fix this.” It was a direct order, a sharp command. There was no room for argument, but Jughead was still bold enough to attempt it. 

“How?” He asked, voice loud and exhausted, “How am I supposed to fix this? Everything I touch turns to shit-and! You just heard her last night-I’m sure she doesn’t want to talk to me!”

“Get creative,” she hissed back, “You masterminded way to mess up the easiest thing on the _planet_ \- Soulmates, Jug! How do you mess up a soulmate bond? So I’m sure you can _think_ your way out of this one.” 

Her eyes were burning into his and his mouth formed a tight, thin line. There was a beat, like the pause before a storm, 

“What if I don’t want to fix this?” 

“Then I guess you won’t miss having teeth,” she replied breezily, jaw clenching.

“I…I’m serious. This is for the best,” he only began to back pedal when he noticed Veronica advance towards him, “No-wait, just listen. Just…hear me out. You think _this_ is a disaster? You think _this_ is a mess? Veronica-this is nothing compared to my whole life!” He gestured towards the room, the space between them.

When Veronica heard those words, her posture softened, just as it had with Betty. She’d heard flickers of conversation, rumors primarily, wrinkles of thought about his father, his mother and sister. If there were a shred of truth to any of them, she felt everything made a lot more sense. 

“Yes, I fucked up,” he continued, “I was selfish-I got too close to her. I knew-I knew from the minute I met her that she was my soulmate. And I knew that I should…I should’ve stayed the _fuck_ away from her but I couldn’t. I mean, fuck, when you met Archie, was there anything that could’ve kept you away from him?” When Veronica shook her head he continued, “She just…she felt, she _feels_ like everything. She’s so natural, every conversation is _easy_ ; I want to make her laugh every day, to see her smile-but I let myself get carried away. I got too caught up in her that I forgot I was supposed to stay away from her in the first place.”

“But why?” Veronica asked, brow furrowed. “Why bother staying away from her when you’re clearly meant to be together?” 

“Because-just, look around you! I fuck _everything_ up,” his fathers own words came flying out of his mouth,  “I knew if I tried to have something real with her, it’d only be a matter of time. And then I lied to her and by the time I realized it was… _worth_ the risk. It was too late.” 

She still looked angry. Her eyes searching his as she faltered, contemplating what to say next. Her mouth opened and closed several times before deciding on, “You really believe that, don’t you? That you fuck _everything_ up?” 

It sounded stupid when she said it like that. But he only nodded, head turned downwards.

“The guy who graduated top of his class at NYU and is a top journalist for one of the biggest newspapers in this _entire_ city, thinks he’s a giant screw up?” She repeated, slower this time.

“I-”

“Listen, Jughead, I know you’ve got more issues than _Vogue_ , more family baggage than any standard airline would allow,” he rolled his eyes, “But, really, _everything_? I mean, you were Archie’s _best man_ , you guys have been friends since-since-”

“Since conception. Yeah. But he won’t even look at me now,” Jughead pointed out.

“Well,” she huffed before reiterating, “You _did_ ruin his wedding.” 

Jughead stared, wordlessly. Veronica was right. Did it ever _fucking_ end?

“But,” her voice was light and airy, “The way I see it is that you’ve got two options: you can either sit around here and mope and feel sorry for yourself, or you can _stop_ being a fuck-up, get up and actually _try_ to fix things.”

Her words were like a kick in the ass, which Jughead decided he’d prefer her words over an _actual_ kick in the ass after evaluating the size of her heels.

“I…I don’t know where to start.” 

“A shower sounds like a good place,” she said before taking one last look at him and strutting out the door of his apartment, not bothering to close it in her departure.

\--

Getting his own shit together wound up being a lot more complicated than Jughead originally planned. It was a lot of trial and error before he realized it was going to be a multistep process.

The first error came when he was foolish enough to think all of his faults could be washed away with an apology.

He texted Betty after Veronica left.

  **J: Hey…I know I’m the last person you want to hear from right now, but can we meet up? I owe you an explanation.**

A response came 3 minutes and 42 seconds later-not like he was counting.

**B: _The Cup_. Be there in 30 minutes.**

Their usual coffee shop. He could be there in ten-and he was. Nervously fiddling with a paper cup filled with black coffee. He didn’t want to drink it-he was too nervous. Instead he played with the cardboard ring-internally mulling over what to say.

He wasn’t surprised when she showed up exactly thirty minutes after the text was sent. Many customers had filtering in and out of the shop-the small bell above the door tinkling every time. Yet without a watch or even looking out the window, he _knew_ when she walked in. He could sense it, somehow.

Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail- a look she didn’t dawn fairly often. The only other time he ever saw her like that was when that imposter came along and broke her heart.

With a gulp he remembered that he was no better than fake-Forsythe. He was far worse because he was _real_.

Her green eyes looked tired and she seemed paler than normal. As her eyes landed on him, he swore he could feel her building walls around herself.

“Betty,” he said, softly and nodded to the open seat across from him. 

Placing her purse on the table and slowly lowering herself into the chair she replied tightly, “ _Forsythe_.”

He sucked in a deep breath, “Guilty.” He added a dry chuckle to ease some of the tension but when he looked up at her, he was met with a face devoid of any amusement. 

“Right, well, I,” great, not even two minutes into this conversation and he was fumbling for words. “I just wanted to, uh, apologize. In person.” 

Betty stared at him, eyes waiting for him to continue. He stared expectantly right back at her. After a few seconds, Betty started grabbing her belongings. “Okay. Great. Thank you for letting me know that-that means a lot. Really.”

“Wait,” Jughead reached his hand out, “Where are you going?”

“I came here for an explanation, Jughead. Not a half-hearted apology.” Her stare was burning into him.

“I…I don’t really have an explanation,” he lied, “None that you’d like to hear, at least.”

 Shaking her head, she settled back down into the chair, “Try me.”

He gulped, “I…you should know that it’s _nothing_ to do with you. You’re-you, well-you’re perfect Betts. It’s just that I’m…” a deep exhale, “I’m a fucking idiot.”

Green eyes narrowed, “Yeah. I’ve heard.” 

“I mean like, on a molecular level,” He continued. “I just…I thought I was protecting you.” 

Betty snorted. “Protecting me? From what?”

_From what?_ It was a valid question-really the root of their issue. But Jughead felt that his answer to that was only becoming more and more foolish. Maybe his answer didn’t work on Veronica but maybe it would on Betty. “…me. I-I meant what I said yesterday. I ruin everything I touch. So I thought that if I-”

“You thought _what_? Let me guess,” she interrupted, finger held up in mock thought, “You thought that if you could somehow _convince_ me that you already had a soulmate, I’d somehow be hurt less?” 

He winced. With his actions held up to a mirror, they seemed rather spotty. “Yes.”

“And _that_ is what you’re sorry for?” She asked, eyebrow arched as she leaned forward. There was a rampant energy about her, something akin to sparks in a powder keg.

He was sorry for that. So he felt like the correct thing to do was nod his head in affirmation.

“I think the argument could be made that you hurt me _more_ by trying not to hurt me,” she stated.

“Betty-“ 

“No-Jughead. I was in love with you. I didn’t…I didn’t even want a soulmate. Not anymore. Not if they weren’t you,” she confessed, tears stinging at the corner of her eyes, “But you knew that, didn’t you?” He must’ve looked guilty, something that only fueled her fire, “ _Didn’t you_?” 

Her voice was thick with emotion and when he nodded, she wiped a stray tear from her eye. The knowledge that he was the one to hurt her like this felt like an anchor dragging him down to the ocean floor.

“But you-you didn’t love me back. You didn’t even want me as a soulmate,” he opened his mouth to argue, to say _anything_ but found himself frozen. “So you set up this whole thing to let me down easy-and it backfired. I was _humiliated_ at my best friends wedding-and then you text me promising me some grand explanation just so I can come down here for a ‘it’s not you it’s me’ bullshit apology?” 

His mind was begging him to say something-anything. But his body wouldn’t cooperate-not until she stood up and began to walk away.

“Betty, that’s not-I don’t-I can’t,” he couldn’t form the right words.

“Have a nice life, Forsythe,” the words came out like a curse, her face looked like she meant anything but what the words she had just said.

* * *

 

“C’mon, I tried to talk to her,” he groaned, “I don’t know what else you want from me Archie!” 

“Oh you tried to talk to her, did you?” Archie looked up at his best man from across the island in Veronica’s kitchen. Sunlight was filtering in through the window, glinting off of the beads of sweat on his face as his face twisted in disapproval. He’d just gotten back from his early morning run-where Jughead may have followed for the last block or so, knowing it was the only way Archie would even _look_ at him. 

Archie took a sip of his orange juice, clutching the glass with a tight fist. “Did you apologize for being a total ass?”

“For being an _idiot_ , but yeah same thing,” Jughead slipped his beanie off of his head before running his fingers through his hair, “She didn’t want to talk to me. I don’t know what else to do.” 

“Maybe try _meaning_ it,” Archie turned around to pour more juice. He was speaking in a passive manner, it was clear that any interaction with Jughead wasn’t particularly out of his own volition.

 “I _did_ mean it, Archie!” He insisted, “I’m _sorry_ that I hurt her, that I thought lying to her was protecting her-”

“That’s not what you should be sorry for Jughead!” Archie exclaimed before muttering _Jesus Christ_ under his breath, “I mean. You _should_ be sorry for those things. But that’s not all.” 

“What the hell else is there?” Jughead narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood to play games. Clearly Archie knew, whether it was through Veronica or Betty herself, what his soulmate was really looking for.

“I’m not going to spell it out for you. Christ, Jug, aren’t you supposed to be the smart one?” Archie shook his head, looking at him with exasperation.

“The smart one, in what? This _friendship_? That’s applying the term a bit loosely, don’t you think?” Jughead snorted at the word. “Last time I checked, _friends_ don’t invite _friends_ alcoholic fathers to their wedding.” 

**_Clang!_** Archie slammed the glass down on the table with such force that Jughead was surprised it didn’t shatter completely. He looked to the married man in surprise, watching as the juice threatened to spill over the top. 

“That’s your problem, right there Jughead.” Archie looked him directly in the eyes, “You’ve never gotten past all of that shit with your dad and it’s _always_ held you back.” 

Insulted, Jughead scoffed, “Oh what, I’m supposed to apologize for my emotional trauma? Sorry we don’t all have picture perfect fathers like you!”

“Screw you,” Archie rolled his eyes, “You always punished yourself for what happened but you know what? You’re not just hurting yourself anymore-you never have been! You’ve been hurting _her_ too!” 

“I didn’t mean to-“

“Yeah, no one ever _means_ to. But you knew what you were doing-all of those years, you pushed her away before you even knew her. And then when you did meet her, you still fucked it up. So maybe it’s time for you to stop blaming yourself for the past and _move on_ before you ruin your future.” 

Archie had a point. _And_ he was actually sounding smart. Two facts that made Jughead both swell pride and roll his yes.  “What, so I don’t end up like my dear ol’ dad? Isn’t that what you’re all so worried about?”

“Whatever man,” Archie sighed, “Sorry that we actually care about you. Sorry that I’ve _always_ given a shit about you.”

There was a certain weight behind that statement, a tone of resentment that Jughead wasn’t exactly fond of. He stalked out of the apartment, not caring if the way he slammed the door woke up Veronica.

He took the elevator, trying hard not to remember the last time he was in it with Betty. His feet carried him the one place he could go, the only place that felt right, a place he hadn’t been in years.

 

* * *

 

“I got a visit from a certain Cheryl Blossom this morning,” Toni stated, in lieu of a proper greeting as Betty opened the door to her apartment. 

“Toni, how lovely it is to see you, come on in,” Betty replied sarcastically, tight grin across her features. She was just finishing editing her latest article, having to beg her boss to allow her to work from home this week. She knew that physically going in to work might make her feel better, but she just couldn’t muster the engery for it.

“She came into the _Wyrm_ as I was cleaning up some old white dudes puke from last night,” Toni continued, “If you’re going to meddle in my love life, I’d appreciate a heads up next time so I can try to at least look presentable.” 

Betty hummed as she started cleaning the dishes in her sink, trying to fight the telling smile on her face at the accusation.  “I’m sure you looked fine, Toni.” It was neither a confession nor a denial.

“She asked me out,” Toni admitted after a beat. Betty dropped the dish she was scrubbing and looked at her with an elated smile. “After she apologized, of course.”

“Toni!” Betty couldn’t help herself, she might have squealed a _little_. It felt nice to be happy, even if it was only after someone elses happiness. “That’s _amazing_.”

Toni picked up the newspaper that was laying on the counter, thumbing through the pages and appearing disinterested. “I told her I’d think about it.” 

“You don’t seem happy,” Betty noted before Toni sent her a _no shit Sherlock_ face. “What’s wrong?” 

“What’s wrong?” Toni repeated, throwing the paper down, “It was kind of a jerk thing for you to do, Betty. A _fre-jerk_ thing.” 

Wiping her hand on a dish towel for the sole purpose of being able to place it on her hip dryly, Betty retorted, “How?”

 “Because Betty-she didn’t want me! Remember that? She made it pretty fucking clear,” Toni explained.

“That’s only because she thought you were Jughe- _his_ soulmate!”Betty almost choked on his name. 

Toni cringed, recalling the way Cheryl looked at her. With disgust and contempt-or maybe it was disappointment? “Doesn’t matter Betty! I mean, that’s always going to be my first impression of my soulmate. Her. Rejecting me. She didn’t deserve to know I was her soulmate after that.” 

“That may be true,” Betty appeased, “But _you_ deserved for her to know. _You_ deserved an apology.”

Toni could feel her fire die down a bit at that. Her and Betty had only known each other for a few days, not counting the week of deception that acted as a barrier to friendship beforehand. But she could tell the blonde was earnest and sincere in a sickeningly heartwarming manner. It make her grimace-thinking of how sweet and undeserving she was of her own soulmate situation.

“I-“

“Listen,” Betty continued, “I kind of felt like it was my fault, in a way. I _know_ it’s not, not logically at least, but you wouldn’t have ever met her like that if it wasn’t for Jughead trying to convince _me_ we couldn’t be together. This whole thing spiraled out of control and it didn’t just hurt me. It hurt you too, and Cheryl. She felt _terrible_ about what happened, I mean, you should’ve seen the heart break written all over her face-” 

“I felt it,” Toni confessed, recalling how the ginger’s thoughts entered her own brain in a panic-thinking of a million ways to write the wrong, “I knew the moment you told her. And I’ve heard her voice in my head all day, begging me to give her a second chance.”

Thought-sharing between soulmates is usually how they ended up finding each other, particularly in the case of Archie and Veronica. It’s a sweet sentiment, shared between only those who _wanted_ to find each other. Needless to say, Betty couldn’t quite relate.

“Cheryl comes off a bit… _strong_ ,” Betty struggled to find the right words, “But I think you’ll balance each other out. Just give her a chance.” 

“Thank you Betty,” Toni smiled sincerely, “I mean it. You didn’t…you didn’t have to do that. This isn’t _on_ you in any way.”

 Betty smiled before cleaning the last of the dishes, “Anything for my favorite _non_ fre-jerk.” 

“So,” Toni cleared her throat, “Speaking of _apologies_ …I heard you met up with a certain someone the other day. But, judging how you’re giving that plate the scrubbing of a lifetime, I’m guessing it didn’t go too well.” 

Betty’s shoulders drew closer together and she sucked in a harsh breath, “Nothing’s changed between us, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

And perhaps Betty jinxed it-for then it finally happened. A thought crossed her mind-one that wasn’t hers.

_401 West 22 nd Street._ 

It was Jughead. Occasionally she had ghosts of his thoughts echo in the back of her mind-happening only when he was intoxicated or let his guard slip. But those were quiet, easily missed thoughts. While this one was clear and loud as day-although it didn’t have much to do with her. 

_401 West 22 nd Street, I fucking hope you’re in here, JB._

* * *

 

“I fucking hope you’re here,” Jughead muttered under his breath as he knocked on the black wooden door. He looked at the address he’d written on his hand sloppily, just to check. 

Slowly the door creaked open, and there in the doorway of the tiny, brick apartment stood a girl-only about 17 not almost as tall as Jughead. They looked incredibly similar, in a way only siblings could managed. 

“Jughead?” she breathed out in a questioning tone, “Is that…you’re really here?”

“Missed my little sis,” He said with a grin. He opened his arms slightly, “What can I say?”

He was met with a quick slap to the face, but only nodded as though he anticipated it.

“Maybe say you’re _sorry_ for not speaking to me or visiting me in _five fucking years._ ” Jellybean responded but was quick to jump into his arms, hugging him as if her life depended on it.

He hugged her back tightly, noticing how easy it was to get swept up in the nostalgia of the moment. It felt as though no time had passed between them-but Jughead could recall all of the calls he left unanswered, all of the messages he left unread. Every stoic birthday card he sent in the mail from Archie’s address, and though they had lived in the same city it felt like they were worlds apart from each other. But now he was _here_ and so was she-the only light in his dismal childhood, the only reason he ever wanted to come to the city in the first place. 

She pulled back slowly, unshed tears wavering in her eyes. “I always thought when you came here for college this is the first thing you’d do,” her voice was thick with emotion. 

“I always thought so too,” he looked down at her, the regret he felt was tangible in the air around them. 

“Why? Why didn’t you?” She asked and _maybe_ it was too deep of a question to start with-maybe she was diving head first into years of emotional trauma, but she needed to know.

“Didn’t think I could handle seeing mom again,” he admitted and although it was part of the reason, it wasn’t the whole truth.

“You know she worked during the day, you knew when I’d be here without her,” JB crossed her arms.

He sighed and looked away from her, suddenly more interested in the old lady yelling at the passerby from her stoop. “I…I broke our promise. Didn’t think I deserved to see you again.”

_There it_ is, she pressed her lips together tightly, biting back the urge to argue. Instead she opened the door fully, ushering him inside with an expectant stare. “Sounds like we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“That we do,” he agreed, closing the door behind him.

* * *

 

 “Jughead,” Archie opened the door to Veronica’s- _their_ \- apartment with a hint of surprise. It’d been a few weeks since their fight. Archie tried stopping by his place a few times to attempt to make amends, but Jughead was never around. He hadn’t seen him around either, not at their local hang outs or on social media. His next step was to stop by his work and if Jughead wasn’t there, he was going to file a missing persons report.

“Hey man,” Jughead smiled, seemingly at ease. Archie hadn’t seen him this relaxed or calm since-ever, really. “Is the missus around?”

“Yeah, come on in,” he stepped back into the apartment and held the door open for Jughead. He was carrying a large package which only fueled Archie’s confusion. 

“Ronnie!” Archie called out, “Jugheads here!”

“Jughead?” Her voice came from down the hallway and he could make out the sound of footsteps approaching quickly. Within seconds she appeared in the kitchen, her silk pajamas encased by a silk robe. 

It was only about 8pm and Jughead wanted to ask _early night in?_ But thought better of it. They were married, after all. 

“Where have you been?” her tone was angry, but he could tell she was relived to see him. “I’m surprised you even remember how to _get_ here.” She crossed her arms across her chest, seeming annoyed even when Archie wrapped an arm comfortingly across her shoulder. 

“I think what Veronica _means_ to say is that she’s happy to see you,” Archie  winced, “But we were worried about you, bro.” 

“Veronica’s right to be a little angry,” Jughead conceded before daring to make a joke, “I mean I did ruin your wedding and then go A.W.O.L for a bit. Not exactly following bro-code there.” 

Veronica’s face softened. Truthfully, her worry over his sudden disappearance may have even rivaled Archie’s. She felt guilty, like blaming him for their wedding only sent him further away. She knew Jughead wasn’t the kind of person you could push and just expect to bounce back and there was a small part of her that ate at her and said perhaps he was gone for good. “Jughead-I…I never should’ve said that.” 

Jughead looked confused then, earnest eyes bearing no bitterness. “I appreciate that, Veronica, I do. But I deserved it. I kinda needed a kick in the ass to realize how _much_ of an ass I’ve been.”

Veronica and Archie traded silent looks that spoke worlds between the two of them. Jughead felt a sudden but growingly common longing for such a connection and cleared his throat. 

“I did ruin your wedding,” He breathed out, raising a hand defensively when they tried to interject, “Just…let me finish, okay?” 

When they nodded, he continued. “I ruined your wedding. I couldn’t put my own personal issues on the back burner long enough to celebrate two people who’ve done nothing but support me-and I don’t think I’ll ever stop apologizing for that,” he could feel his own guilt swelling in his chest and threatening to swallow him whole. “But the truth is, I was an ass before the wedding. I made a big deal of you guys inviting my dad, I roped you guys into concealing the truth from Betty and any time you guys tried to help me, I pushed you away.”

“Jughead,” Archie said when the other paused. His eyes were full of understanding and compassion. 

“And-that’s not all. Archie,” Jughead took a deep breath before looking squarely at his best friend, “You’ve always been there for me. All those fights with my parents, you were there for me. When my mom left town and took JB, you and your father were there for me. You guys gave me my own room for fucks sake.” 

“And I’ve been walking around all this time with a chip on my shoulder and complaining about how my dads a piece of shit and that I don’t have a real family-but I never realized I was taking you guys for granted.” 

_“You know,” JB breathed slowly, contemplating each word before she spoke it, “I was always kind of_ jealous _of you and Archie.”_

_“Me and Archie?” He asked, confused._

_“You always had a place to go when things got bad with mom and dad,” she explained, “One night when mom was really bad here she called Fred and he told her how you’d been living with them. She couldn’t thank him enough.”_

_“He never told me she called,” Jughead wondered why._

_“Point is- you were never alone. Not even when we left,” Jellybean gave him a sad smile. And he realized it was true. When he had no one, he still had Archie and Mr. Andrews._

“You guys always gave a shit about me. Even when you didn’t have to-even when no one else did,” Jughead felt a weight lift off of his shoulders.

“That’s because you’re family,” Archie said nonchalantly, “I mean it dude, I don’t care if we’re blood related or not-we’ve always been brothers.”

Jughead smiled appreciatively, “Thank you.” It wasn’t something he said to his best friend often, always something unspoken between them until now.  “Anyway,” he cleared his throat before lifting the package up off the ground and placing it on the table, “I got you something-you _both_ , something.”

“Jughead, you didn’t have to do that,” Veronica insisted as she peered at the gift curiously. “We’re still going through our wedding gifts.” 

“Ah yes,” Jughead said, “Consider this a ‘sorry I ruined your wedding’ present.”

Archie and Veronica opened the lid of the gift tentatively, rummaging through the cardboard and bubble wrap as Jughead rocked on his heels anxiously. 

“Is this,-are you? Are you serious?” Archie looked up at him in wonder, “A _Diamond_ record?” 

“This is our song,” Veronica realized, picking up the record carefully, “The one you sang when we met-” 

After the title and artist in the middle of the record was a small inscription that read, _Congratulations Archie and Veronica!_  

“No way dude, no way,” Archie was filled with disbelief. 

“This can’t be real,” Veronica mirrored him in amazement. 

“Oh it’s real, according to Riverdale Records, at least,” Jughead affirmed, “Your song is the _only_ song they play these days.” 

“How?” Archie asked, “I’ve been begging them to give me airtime for _years_ \- I only stopped harassing them when-when-“

“When you met me,” Veronica finished with a soft look. 

“Yeah but just because you quit doesn’t mean _I_ did,” Jughead rolled his eyes, “Plus,  when I told them you found your _soulmate_ because of this song? They were all over it man.” 

Before he could even get the words out of his mouth, Archie swept him up into his arms in the manliest of bro-hugs. “Thanks Jug!”

“Alright, put me down you lug,” Jughead laughed as Archie did exactly that and ran off with the record in hand, wondering where to put it.

With just the two of them left in the kitchen, Veronica commented, “That was…really nice of you Jughead. That means a lot.” 

She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, grinning happily at him. 

He blushed in return, “It was nothing. And thank you-for reminding me to get my shit together.” 

“You can always count on me for that,” She smirked and patted him on the cheek.

They turned to watch Archie grab a hammer and some nails to start hanging it. 

“I heard about your little _parle_ with Betty,” She said, “I’m sorry it didn’t go well.” 

“I lied to her for months,” he commented dryly, “I’d be concerned if she forgave me on my first try. Especially when I was an ass even about apologizing.” 

“First try,” she echoed back, pleased, “I assume there’ll be another attempt then?” 

“Jughead!” Archie called out, running back to them with an invitation in hand, “I forgot to ask-are you going? It’s only a few days away.” 

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Veronica said, peering down at it, “ _This_ happened so suddenly, I’m still surprised, quite frankly.” 

Jughead looked down at the invitation, formally written in a familiar and elegant script. It was extra in every sense of the word but he smiled fondly, recalling how he received a different kind of invitation for the event over an elated phone call. 

“Of course,”he took the card out of Archie’s hands, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I told her I’d bring JB too.

“Jellybean?” Archie’s eyes lit up, “You finally saw her?” 

Jughead only nodded in response, re-reading the contents of the card: _Two brides are better than one! Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz invite you to share their celebration at their engagement party on Saturday, June 9 th-8PM._

* * *

 

“And so, some uncultured swine may say we’re rushing into things,” Cheryl’s tone was icy as she delivered her speech in greeting of her guests. She was recounting how her and Toni came to be a story that was rocky at times but overall, incredibly endreasing. She was defensive and unwelcoming of the criticism that may accompany one after getting engaged to someone you’ve only known for a month (soulmates or otherwise), but then she looked across the room to Toni. At once all frost left her body, paving way to a warm, loving smile, “but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” 

After a round of applause, the crowd dispersed and began mingling with each other.  Cheryl came over to Betty and began talking about the details of the wedding, another event Betty was roped into planning. 

She felt an all-too familiar feeling of deja-vu wash over her-happiness for her friends and yet a bubble of jealousy. The only difference this time was that while at Archie and Veronica’s party she was unsure if she’d ever have something like they did but now she new for sure it wasn’t a possibility.

Betty spared a glance across the room where Jughead had just arrived, some girl there with him. She couldn’t help her feelings of jealousy deepen at the sight. She hadn’t seen him in weeks; not since the coffee shop.  She watched as Toni cheerfully greeted them, loudly asking if _this_ was the infamous JB she’d heard so much about. 

Betty didn’t care to hear much more of what Cheryl had to say; she wasn’t listening very closely in the first place. Feeling a familiar constricting sensation rising in her chest, Betty beelined for the terrace. Cheryl’s protests and demands of where she was going only resonated as a faint pounding sound in Betty’s ears as she slid the glass door behind her shut. 

Gripping the black rail of the terrace with such intensity it turned her knuckles white, she inhaled a deep breath. She opened her eyes to take a view of the city that laid seemingly beneath her feet. There was a slight breeze in the air and the murmured voices from inside of the apartment were somewhat of a comfort to Betty. 

The comfort was short lived as a voice jarred her, “Hope you’re not thinking of jumping.” 

Betty rolled her eyes, cursing herself for not hearing the door open. She knew it was Jughead, she could practically feel his eyes boring into the back of her head. 

She didn’t know what to say-she had no witty comeback lined up. Instead, she turned around wordlessly and reached around him for the door. 

He grabbed her with a gentle hand on her wrist. His thumb swiped across her soulmark and she couldn’t suppress the shudder that ran through her body. “Please don’t go.” 

She was surprised to see his face look so…open. There was sadness, regret and hurt running across his features, making him vulnerable in a way she hadn’t seen before.  It gave her pause, but she still moved her other hand to the door. 

“I can’t do this Jughead,” she shook her head. She _wanted_ to do this-she wanted nothing more than to be with her soulmate. She missed him an immeasurable amount over the course of the past few weeks. He wasn’t even _hers_ and yet, without him, she felt a great loss. She missed the faux rivalry he made up over their jobs, their easy banter, the way he’d make her laugh so hard she thought her ribs would collapse, how he could take any tense situation and turn it into a pleasant memory.

It didn’t help that she’d heard him. Frequent thoughts in his head, what’d had for breakfast, the latest article he was working on, how he was feeling-all of those thoughts were open to her now. Even though they’d been apart, she felt her soulmate closer to her than ever before. She was almost foolish enough to think that he was opening himself up to her intentionally; that maybe he changed his mind and wanted her after all. 

But she couldn’t do that to herself. She couldn’t let herself think such dangerous thoughts, most certainly couldn’t let herself engage herself in a conversation with him. It was difficult, like rebelling against every fiber of her being that begged for him. 

He must’ve sensed her hesitation because he spoke again, “Do you remember what I said when we met?”

Leave it to him to give her the ability to roll her eyes not _once_ but _twice_ in a thirty-second time span. 

She turned around halfway to face him. “Yeah, I do remember. You told me soulmates were bullshit; it was a broken and choiceless system. And you know what? I still think you’re _wrong_ about that Jughead. 

“I mean,” she laughed bitterly, “Don’t get me wrong: you almost had me fooled. I _almost_ gave up on soulmates because of us. Because of what _you_ put me through. I thought the world was a broken bone, that soulmates were just a waste of time. But that’s not true-our fucked up relationship doesn’t speak for everyone. And when I look in there,” she gestured to the party still going on inside, “I see _so_ many happy people with their soulmates-so many people who wouldn’t be where they are today without a little something called _fate._

“So you can call it bullshit all you want, Forsythe. You can push _your_ soulmate away, you can ruin _your_ relationships but don’t call what they have bullshit.” Betty ranted, annoyed to find a grin on his face. “What? What’s so funny? I don’t know why people keep inviting you to these things if-if you’re just going to be a giant, brooding stick in the mud! And bring in some random girl who looks like she should be at home studying for a world history exam-“

He was fully laughing now, “That’s my _sister_ , Betty.” 

“You have a _sister_?” Betty asked, jaw nearly hitting the floor in surprise. 

_“You met your_ soulmate _?” JB asked, grabbing his wrist excitedly, “Elizabeth? That’s so awesome! I never thought you’d actually meet her! Because you always told me you didn’t want to-but that doesn’t matter now, you obviously met her already! Is she pretty? Do you love her? Are you going to propose? Oh my god, are you getting married? Is that why you’re here? This is so ex-”_

_“Uh not exactly,” he retracted his hand, scratching it along the back of his neck. “Kind of the opposite, really.”_

_“Wait what?” Jellybean froze instantly, looking at him with confusion._

_“See the problem is…I may have fucked it up.” He felt his face warm with shame._

_“How do you fuck up a soulmate bond?” She wrinkled her nose in confusion._

_“Mom and dad managed just fine,” he seethed but told her the story all the same, recounting every error he made._

“Thankfully I’ve got more than a deadbeat in my family tree,” he responded, rapping his knuckles on only of the tables aimlessly. 

“You just-you never mentioned her,” Betty turned to him fully, knowing there was no way out of this conversation now: unsure if she even wanted one. 

“We hadn’t spoken in five years,” he said and the phrase hung in the air-it was an unspoken thing between people he was closer too. They knew about her one way or the other and knew better than to ask. “Up until a few weeks ago.” 

“What changed?” She questioned, stepping away from the door. 

Without skipping a beat he responded in complete sincerity, “You.”

_“Jug,” Jellybean sat across from him, speechless, “That’s just…that’s wow. That’s-“_

_“Horrible, disgusting and completely unforgivable?” He finished._

_“A lot. I was going to say a lot. I just-I don’t get why. And don’t tell me it’s some bullshit like you’re just trying to protect her from yourself.”_

_“I don’t know why,” he clenched his jaw. “I just know I wished I hadn’t.”_

_“Wanna know why I think it is?” She crossed her legs and turned to face him fully, “You’re punishing yourself. You blame yourself for what happened with mom and dad. You think if they can’t be happy, then you don’t deserve to either.”_

She stared at him for a few seconds, assessing his features. Trying to find a lie in the response he’d given her but coming up blank. She didn’t know to make heads or tails of what he’d said. 

“That’s…that’s not fair,” Betty shook her head, “You can’t just-just string me along for months and then try to make up for it with some _meainingless_ apology, then disappear for _weeks_ and show up acting like a changed man because of _me_.” She took a few more steps forward, hands gesturing accusatorily until they were inches apart. 

“Betty-”

“Because you didn’t want _me_ , Jughead. You rejected _me_. You didn’t love _me_. So you can’t run around like-like I inspired some massive change within you when I was nothing to you! I wasn’t even a speck on your radar.” 

He grabbed her hand, “ _Nothing_ to me? Betty, you’re everything to me. You were right about soulmates, about fate, about everything. It just took me a while to see it but-that’s why I did this, I wanted to be better for _you_. To be the soulmate you deserved.” 

“You always do that,” she pulled away, “You _always_ think you know what I deserve and don’t deserve but all I ever wanted was you!” 

_“It wasn’t…it wasn’t just mom and dad either,” he relented, “I-I felt like you were put through all of this because of me. And the day she took you, you were holding on to me and crying and you wouldn’t let go. You told her she didn’t care if she grounded you forever, but you weren’t leaving. You were hysterical and that felt-still feels like my fault. So I promised you I’d get him to sober up, that I’d help him clean up his act and then you guys could come back. But I couldn’t even do that.”_

_“Jughead,” JB frowned, “That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself. That’s not fair.”_

_“I was supposed to protect you!” He shook his head, unable to keep the bite out of his tone._

_“_ Protect _me?” she scoffed, “As in, keep me from being upset or angry? Do you know how angry I was these past five years? Not because of some stupid promise, that I never believed in the first place by the way- but because I thought you didn’t give a shit about me anymore! I thought you didn’t come around because you didn’t care-not because you were trying to down yourself in self-pity.”_

_He looked up at her, “I could never_ not _care about you. Or mom. I just-I wanted us to be the family you deserved.”_

_“You just don’t get it, do you?” She took a sip of her tea, “I didn’t want us to pretend to be some happy, nuclear family. I didn’t want some deadbeat drunk in my life. I just wanted my big brother.”_

“You’re right. I have a tendency to, uh, _project_ , as it were,” he nodded empathetically, “I’m _learning_ to not. Do that. Anymore. I’m trying to, at least.”

Betty nodded cautiously. “Well. Good luck with that.”

She tried to leave again, a mantra of _please don’t leave, please don’t leave, please don’t leave_ entering her brain. 

“My parents were soulmates,” He said, and it seemed disjointed. “When I learned what soulmates were in elementrary school, I was so relieved. Because my parents were soulmates and I thought that meant they’d stick together. Even then I knew they fought all the time, they basically hated each other,” he laughed dryly, “But when I realized they were soulmates I thought it’d solve all of my problems-I didn’t realize that them being soulmates _was_ the problem.” 

“They knew they wouldn’t work-they couldn’t work. Because the thing about _soulmates_ is that everyone just expects it to come easy. But it’s not, you have to work at it, you have to compromise, make change. And my dad refused, apparently the only mark needed was the label of a beer can. But by the time they realized that, it was too late. She was already pregnant with me and they thought that having me could somehow fix it.” 

“But that didn’t work. In case you haven’t noticed I’m better at causing problems then fixing them,” he was hoping for at least a smile, but she just looked _sad_ , “So then JB was in the picture. And things were fine outside of the screaming matches and smashed plates. Until my mom couldn’t take it and left with her, but not before telling _me_ she wished I wasn’t born-that they couldn’t avoided all of this if it wasn’t for _me_.”

He heard Betty gasp softly, “Jughead…that’s-that’s terrible.”

“I promised JB I’d fix it, that I’d fix _him_. But I couldn’t. So I felt like a failure and I just-I pushed her away. I pushed _you_ away, long before I even met you. Because that was easier. That was _safer_. If I never met you, then I’d never have to worry about fucking it all up.” He explained, “But that was just an excuse-I didn’t want to get hurt again. I didn’t want something to be _ruined_ again and feel like it was my fault.” 

“I…I understand,” Betty placed a light hand on his shoulder, in a manner so tentative it was like she fretted it would burn her. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” he shook his head, “I fucked up. Big time. With JB, with Archie, with _you_. I always could’ve had JB in my life, I could’ve always been there for her. But I wasn’t thinking clearly-I was so wrapped up in what _I_ thought was best and shouldering all the blame that I missed out on _five_ years of her life. _Five_ years of birthday cards I sent from Archie’s address because I was worried she’d try to find me and just-I just. I don’t know. And Archie and his dad were always there for me and how do I repay them? By ruining his wedding?” 

He ranted on, “And then I met you. I didn’t think I ever would-I thought it would be easier if I didn’t. But of course, you were my best friends fiance’s best friend.” He saw the way her face changed, bracing herself for something that might hurt, “And you were…perfect. You set the world on fire-you were witty and sassy, you put me on my place. You called me out on my bullshit within five minutes of knowing me. You’re fun, you care about your friends, you always put other peoples happiness ahead of your own, you’re so god damn smart, I could spend days with you and it’d only feel like a minute passed by. I mean, how could I _not_ fall in love with someone like that?” 

There were tears streaming down her face now, illuminated by the light of the full moon hanging in the sky. 

“By the time I realized I should probably pull my head out of my ass I thought I was too late. I already lied to you for months. When the other Forsythe wound up being a fucking fraud I thought I was far beyond the point of telling you. So I created a ruse and I hurt you, my fucking soulmate, the last person in the world I’d ever want to hurt-I,” he felt tears prick his eyes and dully wondered if he could even recall the last time he cried. “I am so, _so_ sorry Betty. I’ll never be able to apologize enough for that.” 

She wrapped her hands around his neck and he slid his down to rest on her waste. Their foreheads rested together-a faint light emanating from their chests. 

“You…” her voice was light, vulnerable, “You didn’t not want me…you _want_ me?”

“Want you?” he looked up at her through his lashes, pulling their bodies closer together, “I don’t want you Betts, fuck, I _need_ you. I love you. I’ve loved you forever.”

“Mm,” she smiled, “I could get used to hearing that.” 

He pulled back a bit and Betty’s smile morphed into a petulant frown. “I mean it, Betty. I’m so sorry, for everything. I never wanted to hurt you-I really, I was _delusional_ , but I thought I was just…saving you in the long run. And it was so stupid, I see that now. And I don’t expect you to forgive me. Or want anything to do with me,” he pulled back a bit further. He didn’t know if she’d had anything to drink, if that was the only reason she was choosing to be near him. But he didn’t want her to feel pressured in anyway.

“Does it _look_ like I don’t want anything to do with you,” Betty’s voice was flat and monotone, eyebrow raised in an umimpressed way that reminded him a bit too much of Toni. Her grip tightened, not letting him pull back further. 

“I-well, no. But I don’t know if that’s just the wedding talking or if you’ve had any wine-”

“The party started,” she glanced at her watch, “Half an hour ago. Most of that time has been spent talking to _you_. Do you think I showed up here drunk? You think I shotgunned a beer on my way here?” 

He laughed and shook his head, “I just…I’ve got a lot of making up to do. I know that, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to give me…a second chance?” He winced at how corny it sounded, “Let me, I don’t know, buy you dinner sometime? Grab some coffee-we could even see a movie?” 

She sighed, “You’re lucky I’m a patient woman, Jones.”

He smiled down at her, “Well, you’ve got to be? Don’t you? To balance out the worlds black hole of optimism?”

 Her returned the smile easily, stepping closer to him. “While I agree there’s got some making up to do, I _suppose_ I might be willing to give my soulmate a second chance. But _only_ if he’s a good kisser,” she flirted, eyes aglow with a playful look. 

Without another word he ducked his head down and pressed his lips to hers. She melted into him easily and his hands found their way around her hips once again. The glow from their chests was growing stronger, signifying their bond. He smiled into the kiss ever so slightly, turning his head to deepen it. It felt like a gulp of fresh water after a marathon, far more potent than any firework show she’d ever seen, it felt right, in every sense of the word. 

In need of air, they pulled back. “Did I pass the test?”  he asked with a smirk. 

“I’d say you did,” she smiled, resting their foreheads together once more. “Forsythe Jones.”

His world felt a lot lighter. He had everything he’d ever need. He had his _soulmate_ :

“Elizabeth Cooper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> life keeps kicking me in the ass but at least i finished this story!! i kind of hate it butttt 20 pgs later here we are
> 
> as always you can follow me on tumblr @ aswellingstorm.tumblr.com


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